Monday, December 30, 2013

A light from the shadows shall spring

It is not often that we are provided with an opportunity to "see" the world in which we live from a different perspective.  But just such an opportunity was recently provided to the inhabitants of my hometown - Lansing - when the electrical power, on which we so humbly depend, was removed from our lives.  Some took it in stride. Others, like myself, did not.  You see, my art which is my therapy and passion, requires electricity.  Unable to finish the projects I had recently started - I donned my headlamp and turned instead to reading aloud - another one of my passions - from a wonderful book on Great Stories of Shipwrecks and Survival in the Great Lakes.  With the power restored after 108 hours - I returned to my basement studio and put the finishing touches on my latest commission.


A comfortable place!

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Dangerous Business

“It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
 
 
 
 
In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.
Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell,
nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat:
it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.
 
 
Ahhhh, comfort. 
Hard to find when the temperatures barely register on the thermometer even during the peak of the day. But as the Holidays approach we are warmed by the memories of what was and the anticipation of what will be.  How I long for the sound of the backdoor at my childhood home on Stockman Court.  To hear once again the stomping of neighbors and family as they clomp about in the doorway to remove a layer of snow from their hefty boots.  Calling out welcomes as they shake off the cold and enter the kitchen where the smells of the morning's Christmas feast still linger mixed with the fragrance of the delicious meal yet to come. Gifts piled high about the pine, stocking gifts scattered about, traditional songs on the stereo...smiles and stories and sharing and...
love.
 
It is a time to remember. A time to dream. A time to enjoy.
A time to give.
Dream awhile with me and imagine giving THAT gift. 
That unique, one-of-a-kind, custom made gift.
I can help you be the "Gift Whisperer" this Holiday
or anytime!!

Monday, December 9, 2013

To Your Pride Be True!

The Winter Solstice may still be a few days off, but the Holly Way backyard is already dressed for the Holiday Season.  The temperatures are frigid but the beautiful cardinals, frisky little red squirrels, playful fox and grey squirrels, charming little birdies and the majestic and fearsome red-tailed hawk, provide us, and our house-bound cats - Kadashan and Chester, with much to enjoy. 


The castle wall provided a nice perch from which to hunt this afternoon for the hawk and the Temple of Kurgok, in its blanket of white, makes us dream of other worlds.  The new coat-of-arms crest is in place above the drawbridge paying homage to the late Olaf Skullcrusher, Jackson's tree (aka cat scratching post), and our ever-present kitties.  The words below the crest - written in Gaelic - are "To Your Pride Be True".  Since it's too cold to play outside - I've been down in my studio creating some new pieces.  Check them out in the gallery and think about how you could be a Gift Whisperer!!